"Shame on all of you for celebrating on their blood."
A software engineer publicly disrupted Microsoft’s 50th anniversary, accusing the company of aiding Israel’s military operations in Gaza.
The protest took place in Redmond, Washington, where tech leaders Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer, Satya Nadella, and newly appointed AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman appeared together on stage for the first time in a decade.
Vaniya Agrawal, a Microsoft engineer since September 2023, interrupted the celebrations to condemn the company’s alleged involvement in the Israel-Gaza conflict.
She said: “50,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been murdered with Microsoft technology. How dare you? Shame on all of you for celebrating on their blood.”
Calling Microsoft a “digital weapons manufacturer”, she accused the company of enabling violence through its technology.
Vaniya urged the company to cut ties with Israel before another woman escorted her out of the hall.
The confrontation followed a similar protest by Microsoft employee Ibtihal Aboussad during Mustafa Suleyman’s keynote.
Ibtihal said: “Mustafa, shame on you.
“You claim that you care about using AI for good, but Microsoft sells AI weapons to the Israeli military. Fifty-thousand people have died and Microsoft powers this genocide in our region.”
She then threw a keffiyeh, a symbol of Palestinian resistance, onto the stage.
Ibtihal responded: “Thank you for your protest, I hear you.”
The moment drew headlines and renewed criticism of Microsoft’s government partnerships.
A previous report revealed Microsoft and OpenAI’s tools were used by the Israeli military to identify bombing targets in Gaza and Lebanon.
Vaniya Agrawal later explained her actions in a company-wide email:
“You may have seen me stand up earlier today to call out Satya during his speech at the Microsoft 50th anniversary.”
“Here’s why I decided to leave the company, and why I spoke up today.”
Vaniya Agrawal, another Microsoft employee confronted the panel on stage at the company’s 50th anniversary celebration which included founder Bill Gates. Agrawal continued the protest saying “I’m a Microsoft worker and I do not consent…. 50,000 Palestinians have been killed pic.twitter.com/t16TyFxv3a
— ??? ????? SayfAlqudss (@SayfAlqudss) April 6, 2025
Her resignation is set for April 11, but so far, neither she nor Ibtihal Aboussad had received formal updates on their employment status.
Before joining Microsoft, Vaniya worked at Amazon and held diverse roles including medical assistant and tea consultant.
She holds a software engineering degree from Arizona State University and won the Grace Hopper Scholarship for women in computing.
The protests reflect growing dissent across Silicon Valley over ties to Israeli defence projects.
Since October 2023, over 50,000 Palestinians have been killed and 2.3 million displaced, according to international agencies.
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